Converting Old VHS Movies (not home movies) to DVD

[jperry100]

Over many years of purchasing used rental tapes, I have quite a large collection. But I know that these won't last forever (myself included), so I would love to transfer these to DVDs. After searching the forum, I came to the conclusion that a stand-alone DVD recorder would be the easiest way to go. At this time, the recorder's only purpose would be the transfer of these tapes. I have spent many hours searching the forum, but could not find the answers to the following questions:

1. Will I be able to transfer these old tapes that I purchased, that most likely have some copyright protection encoded in them, using an ordinary VCR as the transfer source?
2. If I weren't able to transfer them from an ordinary VCR, would a VCR with TBC make a difference?
3. Could I do the transfer with a Liteon LVW5001 or do I need a better recorder, like a Sharp DVRW2U or a Sony RDRGX7?

As I said, I thought these questions would have been asked before but try as I might I could not find answers in FAQ or other postings.

Thanks!
Joe

[Bright1]

Hi Joe,

Like you, i'm still fishing around for a few answers and going through a trial and error period.
You'll need a good tv tuner / capture card and some preferred capture software - recommendations can be found on this site, theres plenty to read if you have a few hours spare.

At the moment i'm transferring some of my vhs films and experimenting with different compression methods, i've still got a bit to learn, but i'll try and help you.

Most, if not all vhs cassettes have macrovision on them, but i've found my ATI gfx card can record them without hitch.
From what i've read, TBC is a definite bonus and use the best vcr that you can afford, again recommendations can be found around this website.
You'll also need a pretty large capacity hard drive.

Hope this helps,

B.

[RWANDREWS]

One thing that MUST be considered is COST. Many older releases now in DVD can be bought for under $10 USD. At $2 for a DVD-R, 50 cents for a box, printing costs for a label, insert or cover, electricity, wear and tear, and TIME, how much can you save ? I don't author many DVDs from my VHS, UNLESS I believe they will not be released in the near future, or unless I wish to share with my family.

Save your headaches & time for family recordings or the occasional rare VHS release. Sell the VHS on EBay !

BTW, the Canopus ADVC-100 eliminates Macrovision. Some JVC VHS recorders can defeat Macro with the Image stabilization feature, and are very inexpensive. Certainly a TBC is the BEST solution, but buy a good one like the Datavision 100, or you're wasting your money.